Apparatus fob twisting filaments



Sept. 1, 1936. w. WHITEHEAD APPARATUS FOR TWISTING FIL AMENTS, ETC

' Filed May 11, 1952 Fiji.

m:mImmmmmmmnnmmm INVENTOR W/LLl/IM W/l/TE/lE/IP 7 v 81% A OR EY Patented Sept. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William Whitehead, Cumberland, Md., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application May 11, 1932, Serial No. 610,574

1Claim. c1.117-,-21)

This invention relates to a novel method of and apparatus for twisting and doubling yarns, straws and threads of fibres and filaments of any kind and especially yarns, straws or threads of. cellu- 5 lose acetate or other artificial silk filaments or fibres.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple process and apparatus for twisting and dou- =bling yarns, straws or threads in an economical and eflicient'manner.

' Another object of my invention is the production of compound yarns, straws or threads having properties which enable them to be submitted to textile and fabrication processes without damage and which impart the necessary qualities of drape, handle, optical requirements and wear in fabrics produced from such compound yarn or threads.

other objects of this invention will appear from the following detailed description.

In one aspect my invention comprises the doubling together .of yarns, straws or threads (hereinafter referred to as threads) to which a twist is imparted with a thread to which no twist is.

given. In carrying out this feature of my invention, a package of thread which is to receive the twist is mounted on a twisting spindle which is hollow and carries on its head a filer. The thread from the package passes through one arm of the filer, through a thread guide and onto a takeup bobbin. A second thread from a suitable source of supply passes up through the hollow spindle and flier head under a tension just sumcient to straighten the thread but not to strain it.

This thread combines with the rapidly rotating thread from the bobbin in the thread guide but no twist is imposed on it, the thread from the bobbin merely wrapping itself around it with the desired number'of turns which is controlled by 40 the relationship between the winding up speed of the combined threads and the speed of. the twisting bobbin.

Where low twists are desired in the doubling operation, it is not necessary to employ a fiier or similar acting device, as the thread from the bobbin balloons freely and combines with the other thread at the thread guide with the desired results. When it is desired to impose high twists, such as are employed for crepe threads which are used in the manufacture of natural or artificial silk crepe fabrics, for example, crepe de chine, crepe marocain, georgette, etc., I have found it preferable to use a filer or similar acting device, such as a ring adapter, which prevents the high twist imposed on the yarn from running back onto the bobbin irregularly thus forming irregular thread. It is also advantageous to use a filer even when producing thread having a moderately low twist, as this device restricts the width of the balloon formed by the 5 rotating thread thereby permitting of the use of a greater number of spindles in any given space.

A modification of this principle of twisting and doubling simultaneously is the mounting of spindles one above the other and taking the twisted 10 and doubled thread produced by the lower spindle through the hollowspindle of the bobbin above and so on whereby there may be produced doubled threads of similar, opposing or different twists in a single operation; Combining threads 15 .of opposite twists is especially beneficial where the twist is high, as in crepe threads where, for example, 50, '60, or more turns per inch might be imposed on denier natural or artificial silk thread, in that the opposing twists tend to 20 set each other and do not require the usual twist setting operation of steaming, sizing, etc. Such threads when employed as warp or weft in a fabric do not display any tendency to curl the fabric in one direction during the processes of dyeing 25 and finishing or subsequent domestic washing as do fabrics made from threads having such a high twist imposed in but one direction. Heretofore threads of such high twists have been inserted in fabrics with alternate ends or alter- 30 nate numbers of ends of a twist in opposite directions to counteract this tendency to curl the fabric. I have found that the threads produced according to the process of my invention which are not set by steaming or other means, have 35 somewhat higher crepeing powers, that is, they produce a better figure in finished fabrics than threads in which the twist hasbeen set. Threads produced prior to my invention have been set of necessity, since otherwise they are too lively 40 and snarl in subsequent processing. A possible explanation for such difference is that the crepeing or producing of a figure in fabrics of high twist, either in the weft or warp, is due to a torsional force set up in the yarn by the imposition 45 of such high twist and that this residual force is somewhat reduced by steaming or other wetting methods.

A further modification of my invention involves the combining of a stretched thread which con- 50 tracts on scouring and/or dyeing processing. An example of such thread suitable for such pure poses would be an acetone soluble cellulose ace-- tate thread stretched, for example, 8% in length. Such thread, when wetted or treated with swell- 55 ing agents, contracts approximately todts original length.

By way of describing this feature of my invention, the following example is given.

150 denier thread composed'of an acetone soluble cellulose acetate is fed to the hollow spindle second roller passes up through the hollow spindie, through the thread guide and onto the takeup bobbin. The high speed spindle rotates at a speed of approximately 11,000 R. P. M. and on it is mounted a bobbin of thread similar to that being stretched. The unstretched thread from this bobbin combines with the stretchedthread at the thread guide as before described. The take-up bobbin is rotated at a low speed so that the twist in the thread from the bobbin and its twist about the stretched thread in which no further twist is imposed, is 55' turns per inch. Such thread employed in crepe fabrics contracts heavily owing to the contraction of the stetched thread back to its original unstrained length and this contraction produces a heavy crepe or figure in the fabric. Obviously I may stretch the thread in a process prior ,to the twist-combining process.

A highly desirable property of crepe fabrics, the weft or warp of which comprises thread produced according to the process of my invention and which thread combines a high twist and wrapped about an end of moderate or low twist,

is that garments produced from such fabrics retain their shape in a much superior .manner'to crepe fabrics produced'according to prior methods. The reason for this is that a crepe thread produced according to methods heretofore employed has the physical form of a spiral or partially pulled out coil spring. Therefore when such crepe threads were incorporated in a garment and said garment was subjected to constant wear or repeated strains, especially under humid conditions, these slight spirals were straightened or stretched thereby deforming the garment. Thread produced according to the process of my invention, however, which comprises one end of moderate or low twist, do not so deform since the thread of moderate or low twist has no such spiral form and is already straight.

Threads produced according to the process of my invention dye more rapidly and thus effect economies in dyeing process. This applies to threads comprising an end of low or moderate twist. The reason for this is that high twist threads because of the residual forces therein resist penetration of wetting-out liquids and dyes. Further the very close accumulation of the filaments in such thread results in the presentation of a very small surface per mass for such adsorption compared with a loose orv low twist thread. Wrapping a high twist thread with high twist about a thread of relatively low twist produces a channel by which the liquids and dyes may penetrate into the interior of the high twist threads. This probably explains why such threads wet out and dye more rapidly than threads of similar total denier twisted to the same extent and according to methods heretofore employed.

Another modification of my process involves the application of this twisting principle to the winding up process involved in the spinning and manufacture of synthetic yarns and the like, wherein thread freshly made is lead from the spinning chamber up through the hollow spindle and another thread previously spun is mounted on a bobbin on twisting spindle. I 5 Stronger crepe threads may be made according to the process of my invention. It is well known that all threads after a certain point, become weaker by added increments of twist. In the process of 'my invention, where I combine a 10 thread of low twist with a thread which twists around this forming a high twist covering, this loss of strength on account of a high twist, only applies to part of thethread and not to the core of the thread and thus the loss in strength on 5 .the total threads is not as great as in other threads.

Itw'ill thus be seen that by the process of my invention, there may be produced threads with novel effects, crepe threads of higher tenacity, 0 crepe threads which dye more readily and compound threads in which are combined threads of standard and anti-standard twists, threads of low and high twists, threads of different dyeing characteristics, or of different compositions, or of dif- 25 ferent sizes, or of difierent lustre and threads which expand or contract on damping or dyeing. In fact, there may be combined threads of any different properties to give potential cross-dyeing or contrasting physical or optical properties. By 30 my invention, all of the foregoing compound threads may be produced efiiciently and at low cost. Moreover, fabrics woven from spiral wound threads produced in accordance with my invention have the highly desirable property of being 35 more resistant to slip than fabrics woven from other threads or yarns.

In order further to illustrate my invention but without being limited thereto, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, wherein 40 Figure 1 is an elevation of the device of my invention, partly in section, to show the spindle construction; and I v I Figure 2 is an elevation showing my invention in an arrangement for producing doubled threads 45 of similar, opposing or difierent twists in a single operation.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, there'is -shown a twisting spindle generally indicated by the reference numeral 5 which comprises a hol- 50 low spindle 6 formed integral with and which is driven by a whorl 1. The whorl is mounted on anti-friction bearings 8 for rotation relative to a tubular member 9 by which the twisting spindle is fixed to the frame of a twisting machine. 55 A bobbin II is mounted on the twisting spindle 5 and a flier i2 is carried on the head of the hollow spindle 6.

Assuming the apparatus to be twisting and doubling, the twisting spindle 5 rotates in an 60 anti-clockwise direction, as viewed from above. The thread l3 from the rotating bobbin passes through one arm of the flier to the thread guide I l. The rotating thread l3 combines with thread I5 which passes up through tubular member 9, hollow spindle 6 and flier I2 and the compound thread is wound on any suitable textile package, such as a take-up bobbin IS. The thread I5 is taken from any suitable textile package, not shown, and is under a moderate tension sufllcient 7o to keep it straight but not to strain it. It is to be understood that in this doubliing operation,

no twist is imposed on the thread IS, the thread The degree of twist imparted to the thread or the number of turns per inch placed on the thread i5 by my device is of course governed by the speed of rotation of the bobbin II and the rate at which the combined thread is taken up by take-up bobbin Hi. By rotating the bobbin H at high or very high speeds, e. g. 10,000 to 20,000 or more revolutions per minute, high or very high degrees of twist, e. g. 50, or more turns per square inch, can readily be imparted to the thread. It will be understood that the take-up bobbin l6 will be driven at a much lower circumferential speed than the bobbin ll.

Where high or very high speeds of rotation of the bobbin II are employed, as, for instance, in the production of crepe threads, care should be taken that the twisting spindle carrying the bobbin ll revolving at the high or very high speeds, should be mechanically balanced to a high degree of accuracy.

As pointed out above, it is often desirable to stretch the thread 15 before it is combined with thread l3. To this end I have provided feed rollers l1 and I8 which may be rotated by any suitable means, the roller I! being adaptedto rotate at a speed greater than the speed of roller l8, for example about 8% greater. The thread l5, being fed to the twisting spindle, is wrapped around the rollers l1 and I8 to prevent slipping and is so tensioned that the rollers stretch the thread about 8% in length.

Referring to Figure 2, an arrangement of producing doubled threads of similar, opposing or difierent twists in one operation is shown. Twisting spindles, generally indicated by the reference numerals l9 and 2|, similar to twisting spindle 5, are mounted one above the other.

construction of the apparatus. In the arrangement shown, threads 26 and 21 are combined to form a compound thread 28 similar to the compound thread formed by the device shown in Figure 1, which is led up through the hollow spindle of twisting spindle I9. A thread 29 from the bobbin 3| is twisted about the thread 28 to form the compound thread 32 which is wound on take-up bobbin 25. It will be readily understood that by changing the direction of rotation of bobbin 3| and the speeds of rotation of the bobbins, compound threads having twists which are different in degree and kind may be produced. While I have shown two twisting spindles in Figure 2, it will be readily seen that any required number of twisting spindles may be placed one above the other to produce the desired compound thread.

It will be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration, and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Apparatus for producing compound threads comprising in combination a rotatable spindle forming a support for a thread package said spindle being hollow to provide a passage through which a thread is adapted to pass, means for rotating said spindle, a plurality of rollers positively driven at different speeds for imparting a substantially permanent stretch to said thread and a take-up device, the construction and arrangement being such that the thread after being stretched passes through the hollow spindle and on its way to the take-up device has the thread from said thread package twisted around the same.

WILLIAM WI-IITEHEAD. 

